The Dance Cards Gallery

A Collection of European and American Dance Cards for sale from

John & Rico's Drawing Room of Newport Antiques

located at 152 Spring Street, Newport Rhode Island 02840 tel. 1-401-261-3980

Johann Strauss II

A notation: We have consolodated all of our dance cards sites into one page.As with all our catagory pages: click on the image to take you to a page of detail images. Gift wrapping is available for smaller items and of course we can ship purchases to most destinations via UPS, U.S. Postal or Fedex.

# 4983. A set of four rare American Dance cards from Harvard University. First is titled "Senior Spread Class of 1902" - size 3 7/8" x 5 3/4". The 1902 Senior Spread Committee included Remsen Brinckerhoff Ogilby, Richard Elbert Edwards and Frederick Indersoll Emery. Patronesses included (as noted): Mrs. William A. Bancroft, Mrs. L.B.R. Briggs, Mrs. Richard H. Dana, Mrs. Arthur Lithgow Devens, Mrs. Richard C. Divey, Mrs. Charles W. Eliot, Mrs. Woodward Emery, Mrs. F.L.Higginson, Mrs. William J. Ladd, Mrs. William Lawarence, Mrs. Thomas Motley, Mrs. M.H. Richardson, Mrs. Joseph B. Russell, Mrs. Charles S. Sargent, Mrs. N.S. Shaler, Mrs. James J. Storrow, Mrs. Barrett Wendell, Mrs. Harold Williams and Mrs. Alfred Winsor. Of the 22 dances listed in this card, the bearere had filled out all but 4. This was a very busy night for the dancer. The was a card of a gentleman as all the dances partners are ladies. The most interesting and unusual dance listed is the "Portland Fancy." Condition of this card: separated outer card. We have a duplicate of the 1902 card in about the same condition. There is a 1901 "Senior Spread Class of 1901" card in the same condition thought the pencil is missing from this card. There is also on this collection a 1904 card with the Senior Spread Committee as follows: Harold Garfield Dillingham, William Jackson Clothier and Chester Haven Robinson. Condition of this card is intact but the pencil is missing. The cover design reflects thematically art of the era with Japonisme influencing the theme. Price for the four card is: $1,000.00.

Item number 4596. A Dance Card dated March 14, 1895. Titled " Alpine Gesellschaft D' Waldegger " As with most Vienna ( Wien ) Dance (or Ballspenden ) cards, this is a three dimensional representation for the sponsoring organization. This Alpine walking club used a lantern for their dance card. Cardboard with siler foil and green paper exterior. The top has edelweiss from the Alps glued to the top. The dance name and list of dances in on the underside of the card. Condition: considerable scuffing to the exterior; some of the flowers are missing; partial loss to the bottom paper; no pencil. Price: $175.00

# DC 16. No dated but probably late 1890's. Vienna. The decorative elements include: a horseshoe, rope (climbing), a walking staff ( wood with a metal point), a wooden "press", and a pair of wood wheels strung with "rope", one with the "footprint" of a shoe. This ball had something to do with climbing, but do not know what aspect. Manufactured by August Klein. Purchased on Cape Cod. Price: $300.00.

# DC 24. Undated, but from Vienna. This only thing that we know about this dance card is the manufacturer: Ausgefuhrt von B. Buchwald & Co. Wien, VII. District Lindengasse 16. The dance card was attached to the base in book form under the pedestal. The figures are silver plated bronze mounted on a wood pedestal. The two figures are : a king dancing with a woman who is wearing what appears to be a short fur garment and she is holding a sword and evergreen branches. Purchased on Cape Cod. Price: $375.00.

DC 4. From a train switchers ball. No book or pencil. The round leaver with handle moves the gears which turn the signal. C. 1890. Probably Vienna: Price: $375.00.

DC 5. From some kind of Industrial Ball. No Book, no pencil. The lever at the left moves up and down and causes the 'press' to operate. Price: $300.00.

DC 6. From a train workmans ball; probably Vienna. The 'switch' at the left causes the water filler to move from right to left. No book, no pencil. Price: $450.00.

DC 9. From a Vienna Ball made by Jaeger & Thiel, Wien; Jan 31, 1881. From a Boat related group. The 'card' is on a spindle that pulls out from a slit in the silver plated bell shaped device. The 'card' is on a spring that retracts into the device. about 1/3 of the dance card is missing. No pencil. Price: $335.00.

There is little that we can say about this dance card: probably late 19th early 20 th century. Judging from the dispenser we would assume some organization related to the product, either manufacturer or service group. Gilt brass and nickel plated metal. One foot (of four ) is missing. $350.00.

DC 27. This is a wonderful dance card. Unfortunately we know very little about it except that it is from Budapest. The "bell" shaped object on the left is a 50 Kilogram weight and attached are dumb-bells. The materials are fire gilt bronze and enamel. The initials intertwine to form " A M C ". The dance card was stored inside the weight and what little is left of the card states dances in Hungarian. We would date this after the turn of the century. So the style elements surely imply a weight lifting organizations. Dance titles include " Csardas, Keringo (waltz), Tipego, Negyes, Gyorspolka,etc." On the last page of the card is stated: " Kobanyai gyartmany" which may be the manufacturer. $450.00.

DC 51. Dated Feb. 13, 1895. "Medicus Tanczestely" ( which means Medical Dance ) Budapest. A doctors Ball. This is quite a rare dance card: the form is a device for examining ones eye. The back of the case is opened to reveal the dance information and card. Morzsanyi was the maker.Has tassels and ribbon. Inside (as is normal for Hungarian dance cards) are listed the names of the doctors in attendance (not their wives). Includes pencil ( which is stuck inside the metal case). Material : brass, bronze and mirrored glass. $425.00.

DC 78. This dance card has no date and no book. We believe that it represents an railroad organization ball. When you move the leaver, the signal turns. Probably made in Vienna for a City Ball. The materials are brass, fire gilt bronze and nickel plated bronze. $375.00.

DC 81. This card has no marks, card or pencil. Probably from the 1890's. The form represents an metal workers or forge workers table. It stands on four legs which are supported by a velvet covered base. Under the base was located the dance card information and pencil. Probably Vienna. Nicely detailed. Material: wood, velvet, peweter plated brass.$165.00.

DC 82. Again this card is not marked: probably late 19th century and probably Vienna. A wooden plate is hand decorated with burnt drawings and inscriptions which must represent the sponsoring organization with is then framed with a silver plated metal enclosure. Attached with green and white velvet tassels. The dance information must have been attached to the reverse of the wooden plate. Otherwise in nice condition. $165.00.

DC 84. This mechanical dance card is without book or information. Late 19th century and probably Vienna. From an Industrial Ball. One moves the handel and the piston goes up and down. Material: cold painted bronze. $300.00.

DC 85. This card is dated: March 14, 1892. Marked: 'Künstlerhaus Schützen kränchen' Made by August Klein. The pencil is gone and there was some kind of decorative element on the face inbetween the red velvet and the center medallion: perhaps a frame. Material: wood, velvet, high fired enamel on bronze. $150.00.

DC 86. From a railworkers ball. Not marked. Probably Vienna. Late 19 century. The form depicts a water filling station. You move the handel on the left and the spout turns from left to right. The dance information would have been located on the underside of the wood base. Materials: wood, brass, nickel plated bronze and paper. $450.00.

DC 98. Dated January 16, 1892. Really quite and unusual card with great character. The form is a birch log with a mirrored (considerable loss to the silver) glass sliding top that when removed would reveal the dance card (which is missing). All very rustic. The side of the log states: 'Reissthaler Quelle'. The tassel has attached a real pine cone. No pencil. Material: wood, birch bark, mirrored glass and brass attachements. $150.00.

More American Dance Cards

Dance Card # 203. This is a very rare American Dance Card titled on the front cover: "Illustrated Program of the Liederkranz Masquerade Ball ! Thursday Evening, February 7th, 1889, Metropolitan Opera House, New York designed and illustrated by Joseph Keppler. Size: (folded 3.75" x 6". Condition: covers very stained, crackled and printing faded ( we suspect that is was originally silver). Inside part of the program is missing and no dances are listed, no pencil. Still all in all it is a very rare card. Price: $250.00.

# ADC 10. This card was from the " Third Grand Ball" given by the "Jolly five" ( the arrangement committee list five names) on Saturday April 25, 1891. We believe that this was from Milwaukee. The inside program lists 24 dances and # "1. Grand March and Quadrille," lists next to it the " Jolly five." Half of the dances list beside it a club or organization such as: "4. Schottische, . . . United Social Clubs", "6. Quadrille, . . . Friendship Club", "11. Quadrille, . . . Milwaukee Musical Circle", "15. Tycoon Polka . . . Washington Club", "19. Cadet Waltz . . .Lyceum Specialty Club". This card asks many questions: Did all these clubs and organization attend this ball, Were the clubs and organizations listed by the particular dance the only ones allowed on the floor for that dance. A small piece of paper can open up a world of questions. Price: $50.00.

This collection began to be assembled when Messrs. Santi and Gacher started visiting Vienna, Austria about ten years ago. In a small shop off the Kärtnerstrasse they discovered their first example of what was to become a most enjoyable collecting hobby.

Dance cards or "Ballspenden" which literally translates as "ball-donates" have been a part of Viennese culture for more than a hundred years. Today, especially in Vienna, Ballspenden has come to represent the party favor or dance card that a lady used to record who she would dance with at a ball.

In Vienna in the 1830's almost half the population of 400,000 attended almost 800 balls during Fasching before Lent. Those numbers of people attending balls through the years translated into the production of hundreds of thousands of dance cards for just one city alone, Vienna. With most cities in the world holding dances and balls, the numbers of dance cards produced through the years must have been in the millions. Yet today, dance cards in the marketplace are a rarity: they are fragile, often were not kept and many were lost during the destruction of wars.

By the mid-1860's, when Johann Strauss, Jr. had written "The Blue Danube Waltz", Vienna, the city of the waltz, was the center of social life for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Part of the social life was the formal "Ball" or "Fete" sponsored by the various organizations representing every aspect of daily life. Balls were sponsored by doctors, architects, mountain climbers, police agents, mens singing clubs, railroad switchmen, just to name a few. Just about any group of citizens could sponsor a ball and they did ! For many organizations, the annual Ball was the high point of the year.

Ballspenden have been around for quite a long time, certainly since the mid 18th century. Splendid examples made of precious metal and jewels survive in museums. These examples were created for the most wealthy class of the Empire.

The dance card, no matter when it was made generally consisted of a decorative case which opened to reveal a "book" that listed the various dance titles and composers with a blank line which would be filled in with the name of the person with which the lady intended to dance. Listed in the card could be from 10 and up to 20 or more dance titles. Attached somewhere to the case was a pencil with which to write a name. A decorative cord was attached to the case so that the entirety could be attached to the lady's ball gown.

Generally, the "case" that holds the card reflects the sponsor of the ball with some object depicted in miniature, especially European dance cards. The sponsoring organization would have the committee meet with the Ballspenden manufacture to decide on the design to be used for the dance card. In Vienna, most of the manufactures were located in the inner city. American dance cards were usually printed by local printers from the city where the sponsoring organization was located. Almost all of the Ballspenden in this On-line-Museum are marked with the name of the manufacturer and the address of the workshop. Many dance cards (especially those from Vienna) were designed by important people of the era such as Viennese architect Joseph Maria Olbrick who designed Secession style buildings in Austria. His design for a dance card in this Online Museum is dated January 24, 1898 and was for the Architects Ball of Vienna.

The admission fee to Viennese Balls was higher for women than for men, to cover the cost of the ballspenden.

For some reason, probably social custom, the Hungarian and American dance cards list the sponsors not only by organization name but also by members name.

The names of composers listed on dance cards could be: Schultze, Musard, Lumbye, etc. however, usually one third of the dances would be composed by Strauss. The King of the waltz created the music that made balls flourish not just in Vienna, but all over the world. Without his wonderful compositions and his extraordinary following the ball would not have had the impact on the social life of the era.

The waltz was received with enthusiasm throughout the Empire. Budapest, being a smaller carbon copy of Vienna, followed suit with its residents sponsoring annual balls to dance the "kerango."

Eventually we will arrange the collection in chronological order. View a small image with written detail about the "card" and click on that image to view larger or additional images of the same card.

Information Guidelines about dance cards.

1. Size: generally dance cards are between 1" and 3" in size, so as not to get in the way of the lady.

2. Materials: either paper, metal (brass, nickel, white metal), wood, organic material such as shell, ivory, mother of pearl,etc., glass.

3. Dance cards served two purposes: To be used at the dance to list in order the dances of the evening and to be kept as a memento of the Ball.

THE DRAWING ROOM OF NEWPORT HOME PAGE

The Drawing Room is located at 152-154 Spring Street, Newport, Rhode Island 02840.We are open daily from 11 am to 5 pm and by appointment. If you have an interest in an item listed in this document or wish to purchase an item, please call us at 1-401-841-5060 (cell: 401-261-3980). The Partnership of Gacher and Santi has been in business for over 30 years. We have been located in Newport since 1985. All images copyright by F. Santi, 2007

Our Email address is: drawrm@hotmail.com

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